1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink-jet head, and particularly to an ink-jet head including a driver chip that supplies a signal to an ejection actuator for ejecting ink from a nozzle.
2. Description of Related Art
Examples of an ink-jet head that ejects ink from a nozzle include one disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-35584. The ink-jet head disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-35584 includes an ejection actuator that ejects ink from a nozzle and a driver chip that supplies a signal to the ejection actuator.
There are various possible arrangements for a driver chip within an ink-jet head, one example of which is shown in FIG. 3A. In FIG. 3A, a driver chip (i.e., a driver IC 160) is sandwiched between a support member (i.e., an ink reservoir 131) and a plate member (i.e., a heat sink 150) with an elastic member (i.e., an elastic member 161) being interposed.
An ink-jet head having such a construction may, when for example it is installed in a printer or the like, be gripped by a human hand or a manufacturing device across a sub scanning direction indicated in FIG. 3. In such a case, the plate member and the support member get closer to each other and the elastic member is compressed. When the elastic member is compressed to the maximum limit, load on the driver chip sandwiched between the support member and the plate member via the elastic member rapidly increases, which may cause damage to the driver chip.